What’s On
2026
The Dignam Inquest: Matters of Some Concern
Step into a courtroom unlike any other, where literature, history, and mystery collide. In The Dignam Inquest: Matters of Some Concern, Senan Molony invites you to become part of a live jury, tasked with unravelling one of the most curious deaths in Ulysses.
Was Patrick “Paddy” Dignam the victim of a sudden illness, a fatal heart event, or something far more suspicious? Drawing on the rich, layered world of James Joyce, Molony reconstructs a coroner’s inquiry with wit, theatrical flair, and forensic intrigue—placing the audience at the very centre of the verdict.
Expect sharp analysis, dark humour, and unexpected twists as evidence is weighed, witnesses are called, and long-buried questions resurface. This is not just a lecture—it’s an immersive investigation into one of Dublin’s most enigmatic fictional deaths.
The court is in session. The question is: what really happened to Paddy Dignam?
Tickets are free but booking is essential. There will be both seating and standing places available.
The Bloomsday Festival takes place on 11-16 June 2026. It is organised by The James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland and the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport.

TELEMACHUS
Step inside the iconic Martello Tower in Sandycove, Dublin, and experience the opening episode of James Joyce’s Ulysses brought to life with this extraordinary production by VOLTA Theatre Company. Directed by Liam Hourican and starring Oliver Flitcroft, Darragh Shannon, Daniel Mahon and Geraldine Plunkett, this adaptation will transport you back to 1904 and the intense, impecunious lifestyle of two young men with literary ambitions. Set in the iconic Sandycove Martello Tower and environs, this is an exuberant, ambient production that will faithfully recreate the first episode of Ulysses.
The Bloomsday Festival takes place on 11-16 June 2026. It is organised by The James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland and the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport.

Molly’s Soliloquy
Reclining on a bed in the round room, Cáitriona Ní Threasaigh transports us to number seven Eccles Street as Molly Bloom reviews her day and, indeed, her life in this soliloquy from the final episode of Ulysses in The James Joyce Tower & Museum on Thursday 11 June, 19:30.
Caitríona Ní Threasaigh is an actor who has also trained in clown. She performed Molly Bloom’s soliloquy at Áras an Uachtarán for the Irish president, Michael D. Higgins and his guests on Bloomsday (2013) and has performed it in the James Joyce Tower in Sandycove for Bloomsday ever since. Other roles include Mamó in Saol Ella, TG4 (2023), Mrs. Corcoran in The Dry, RTE (2023) Chantelle, in the film Deeper Thing (Nigeria 2018), Prospero in Shakespeare’s The Tempest (2015 Berlin, Germany) and Móna, Ros na Rún, Tg4 (2014).
The Bloomsday Festival takes place on 11-16 June 2026. It is organised by The James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland and the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport.

Ulysses Ballads
A recital of new and original ballads by Val O’Donnell written to the airs of music mentioned in Ulysses. Adding to the success of his 2024 18 Ballads from James Joyce’s Ulysses, Val is at it again with 18 more vibrant, playful and engrossing ballads set to airs of music referred to in Ulysses and Joyce’s other work. Performed by Val, Sinéad Murphy, Joe Ryder, Andrew BasquilleVal O’Donnell has a connection with the theatre for over 50 years as an actor, director and adaptor from Irish literature. In 2011 Val established The JoyceStagers theatre company to perform his adaptations from the works of James Joyce.
The Bloomsday Festival takes place on 11-16 June 2026. It is organised by The James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland and the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport.

Ulysses aWake
All the ghosts of Ulysses alight for their play in the guise of the Idrone Players. Eighteen actors, dancers, and musicians give an intriguing insight into Ulysses, with the craic, the ceol, the sorrow, and the soul of the Joyce Tower: this is Ulysses aWake.
Tickets are free but booking is essential. There will be both seating and standing places available.
The Bloomsday Festival takes place on 11-16 June 2026. It is organised by The James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland and the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport.

Druidy Druids
Join us in the Round Room of the James Joyce Tower for a wonderful evening of enchanting music. The Druidy Druids perform an array of songs and music referred to in Joyce’s works, including his own “Bid Adieu,” the only piece in Chamber Music for which he wrote both the words and the melody.
The Bloomsday Festival takes place on 11-16 June 2026. It is organised by The James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland and the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport.

Bloomsday for Kids: The Cat and the Devil
James Joyce penned this story in a letter to his four-year-old grandson Stephen (“Stevie”). It is commonly known as “The Cat and the Devil.” However, it is also known as “The Cat of Beaugency.” The letter of 10 August 1936, where it was first told, begins:
“My dear Stevie: I sent you a little cat filled with sweets a few days ago but perhaps you do not know the story about the cat of Beaugency”.
This marvellous story has been brought to life by Morgan Cooke, Zita Monaghan McGowan and Molly Mew.
The event is free and open to the public. There will be sitting and standing room available.
The Bloomsday Festival takes place on 11-16 June 2026. It is organised by The James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland and the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport.

CYCLOPS
Don’t miss this hilarious, sharply satirical production by Volta Theatre Company of James Joyce’s CYCLOPS
Leopold Bloom finds himself in the proverbial lion’s den of Barney Kiernan’s, where the ‘broadshouldered deepchested stronglimbed’ Citizen demonstrates the ugly side of Irish Nationalism. Inflammatory speeches over afternoon pints, decrying the British Empire and ‘foreigners’ in general, lead to an antisemitic rant against Bloom and an assault with a biscuit tin.
The Cyclops episode of Ulysses is performed by Oliver Flitcroft, Liam Hourican, Jim Roche and Darragh Shannon.
The Bloomsday Festival takes place on 11-16 June 2026. It is organised by The James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland and the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport.

Jim Norton Reading Ulysses
Jim Norton, who read the definitive unabridged audio version of Ulysses for Naxos Audio books, will be reading from Ulysses outside the Tower on Bloomsday morning, Tuesday June 16th at 11am.
Distinguished Irish character actor of stage and screen, Jim Norton has a career has encompassed performances at the London Old Vic, the National Theatre and on Broadway. His collaborations with playwright Conor McPherson have included a Tony Award-winning performance in The Seafarer. On screen he is known as Bishop Brennan in the popular sitcom Father Ted.
In 2004, Norton made an unabridged recording of James Joyce’s Ulysses (his personal favourite book) for Naxos Audio Books, which was released in a 22-CD edition. He also recorded Dubliners in full, abridgments of Finnegans Wake and the full text of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
The event is free but booking is essential. There will be both seating and standing places available.
The Bloomsday Festival takes place on 11-16 June 2026. It is organised by The James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland and the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport.

ATHRAITHEOIR
Sweet Jayne Promotions
ATHRAITHEOIR bends Buile Shuibhne (The Madness of Sweeney) into a multidisciplinary performance of oration, movement and Irish literary echo. Patterns surface, time folds and endings blend into beginnings inside a world that refuses to hold its shape.
WRITTEN BY: Jayne Pomplas + Kilian O’Flanagan
DIRECTED BY: Jayne Pomplas
PERFORMED BY: Jayne Pomplas, Kilian O’Flanagan, Cillian Byrne, Aoibhinn O’Dea, Alex Vostokova, Alex Moore, Robbie Reilly, Jason Macnamara, Jack Duffy, August Kirwan
MARKETING BY: Caoimhe Bermingham
Running Time : 40 mins
Tickets are free but booking is essential. There will be both seating and standing places available.
The Bloomsday Festival takes place on 11-16 June 2026. It is organised by The James Joyce Centre in partnership with Fáilte Ireland and the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport.

Ireland’s most iconic literary landmark
The Ulysses Trail
Follow Joyce’s words from Dublin’s shore to the city. After you’ve visited the James Joyce Tower in Sandycove, you can continue to trace the route of the narrative. Explore nearby Dalkey, steeped in history, walk (into eternity) along Sandymount Strand, and experience how literature, place, and imagination meet along the way.